I receive my hometown newspaper. I was born in a town of 1,000 people. Our newspaper covers all of the local news and, I think, accurately. They also present a conservative analysis of world news.
In contrast, my wife's hometown newspaper takes advantage of every opportunity to present negative news; drug dealing, car crashes, bar fights and arrests are always on page 1 while the activities of the local charity, student awards and corporate expansions are buried on the last pages.
At DOTmed, we try to report the facts and if something is an opinion, we include it as such.
Mount Sinai Hospital, currently owned by Beth Israel was
rumored to be permanently shuttering its lower Manhattan presence, which would have left hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers without a local emergency room. Several news outlets covered this story and while we reported what was being said, we did not refer to it as the gospel truth.
Reports suggested that the hospital would make a major announcement before the end of the month, and many believed that would be the end of Mount Sinai.
We were all quite relieved this afternoon to read a statement from Dr. Kenneth L. Davis, CEO of Mount Sinai Health System, that included the following passage:
"In addition to a $500 million investment in care for the Downtown community — including a major expansion of primary, specialty and outpatient surgical care centers — Mount Sinai will be building a new hospital with 70 inpatient beds, procedure and operating rooms, and a brand new ER just two blocks away."
Although the original facility will close and be replaced by a smaller building, Dr. Davis maintained that the circulating rumors are
"inaccurate" and said there would be no loss of services to the community while the improvements are being made.
It is not easy to run a responsible journalistic enterprise but that is what we are trying to do. If you read our online news, we keep you informed. Our goal is not to shock you but to educate you and be one place where you can go and get the important health care news of the day.
It can't always be good news, but today for the residents of Lower Manhattan, it was.
That is why we encourage you to keep us informed when you have news so we can inform the world.
Phil is a member of AHRA, HFMA, AAMI and the Cryogenic Society of America. He has contributed to a number of magazines and journals and has addressed trade groups.
Phil's proudest achievement is that he has been happily married to his wife Barbara since 1989, who helped him found DOTmed in 1998.
